Bull (2016 TV series)
| starring = | composer = Jeff Rona | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 23 | list_episodes = #Episodes | executive_producer = | producer = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = 43 minutes | company = | distributor = CBS Television Distribution | picture_format = | audio_format = | first_aired = | last_aired = present | related = | website = www.cbs.com/shows/bull | production_website = | network = CBS }} Bull is an American drama television series starring Michael Weatherly. CBS ordered the program to series on May 13, 2016, and it premiered on September 20, 2016. The show is based on the early days of talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw's career, when he was a trial consultant. On October 17, 2016, CBS picked up the series for a full 22 episode season. An additional episode was ordered in November. On March 23, 2017, CBS renewed the series for a second season, which is set to premiere on September 26, 2017. Premise The series follows the employees at Trial Analysis Corporation (TAC), a jury consulting firm headed by Dr. Jason Bull, who is a psychologist and "trial science" expert. Bull uses his skills and those of his team to not only select the right jurors for his clients, but to help his clients' lawyers decide which type of argument will win over jurors best. Cast Main * Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull, a psychologist and holder of three Ph.D.s in psychology, as well as a pilot's license. He hates lawyers and had a difficult childhood. * Freddy Rodriguez as Benny Colón, Bull's former brother-in-law, a former NYC prosecutor, and TAC's in-house counsel. * Geneva Carr as Marissa Morgan, a psychologist, neurolinguistics expert, and licensed sex therapist, who formerly worked at the Department of Homeland Security. * Christopher Jackson as Chunk Palmer, a fashion stylist who formerly worked at Vogue and who, at the University of Georgia, was an All-American football defensive lineman. * Jaime Lee Kirchner as Danny James, the team's investigator, who used to work as a police detective in narcotics and for the FBI. * Annabelle Attanasio as Cable McCrory, a skilled computer hacker. Recurring * Dena Tyler as Liberty Davis, an inexperienced lawyer who occasionally works with Bull's team on trials. * Jill Flint as Diana Lindsay, an opposing lawyer with whom Bull has history, both litigious and romantic. * Eliza Dushku as J.P. Nunnelly, a legal fixer. Episodes |ProdCode= 101 |Viewers= 15.56 |ShortSummary= Dr. Jason Bull, a divorced psychologist and expert jury consultant, is hired to help defend the son of a millionaire who had sex with a drug-dealing girl from his school. When the son is accused of murdering the girl, Bull must use his skills and technology to deduce the intentions of the jurors, his client, and everyone else involved. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 102 |Viewers= 13.61 |ShortSummary= A commercial plane crash due to wind shear causes the deaths of 62 people, with the plane's female pilot, Captain Taylor Mathison (Trieste Kelly Dunn), being the lone survivor. To avoid negative publicity, the airline is complicit in getting a negligence lawsuit brought against Mathison. When Bull and his team learn juries would more likely acquit a male pilot, they must help Mathison get her life back and not be judged by her gender. In so doing, Bull convinces Mathison to fire her lawyer, who wants to settle, and has Benny try the case. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 104 |Viewers= 13.00 |ShortSummary= Bull and his team defend Reese (Celeste Arias), accused of the previously unsolved murder of a star college basketball player, after popular crime blogger Ellen Huff (Sarah Steele) reveals Reese was raped by the murder victim and had made threats against him. The case pits Benny against his former colleague and flame, Amanda (Tiffany Villarin). The team has to create reasonable doubt for the jurors by uncovering a steroid scandal among the basketball team as well as unedited audio that reveals Huff omitted salient facts in her blog. Things become more complicated when Huff herself ends up dead. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 105 |Viewers= 12.29 |ShortSummary= When young genius Kerry Ketchum (Barrett Doss) is accused of patent infringement upon developing a superior drug to treat hemophilia B, which her baby sister has, Bull and his team have to travel to the (fictional) West Texas town of Callisto, where the case will be tried. While facing strong odds against winning, given that the town always favors their local prosecution teams in patent cases, Bull must also face former adversary Diana Lindsay (Jill Flint), his opponent in the only previous case he did not win. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 106 |Viewers= 11.61 |ShortSummary=Budding chef Richard Fleer (Zach Appelman) confronts his fiancée after overhearing a conversation with her parents who disapprove of their marriage, and she storms out. She is later found dead in an alley, and a detective (Chance Kelly) is able to get a confession out of Richard. Dr. Bull is offered the job of supporting the prosecution in the case against Richard, but after hearing Richard's confession, Bull decides to support the defense. His team must now work with public defender Issac Chambers (Jeremy Shamos) to convince the jury that Richard's confession was coerced, while also looking for the real killer. Elsewhere, Marissa, Cable, and Danny try to convince Chunk that he should investigate his upcoming date. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 107 |Viewers= 11.87 |ShortSummary= Talented surgeon Dr. Terry Robeson (Tom Lipinski) is accused of malpractice when one of his surgeries results in an emergency hysterectomy on a woman who tried for years to get pregnant. Bull and his team must work past the doctor's arrogance to convince the jury that the doctor had no other choice during the disastrous procedure. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 103 |Viewers= 10.87 |ShortSummary= Bull uncovers a conspiracy involving a corrupt assemblyman (John Ventimiglia) while helping a new client facing vehicular manslaughter charges. Also, Danny and Cable investigate why Marissa is acting and dressing differently. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode= 109 |Viewers= 11.68 |ShortSummary= Bull must help his ex-wife Isabella (Yara Martinez) when a man files a wrongful death suit against her company after his wife died from an allergic reaction to one of her products. Bull must not only prove to the jury that his ex-wife is not as perfect as she seems, but also that the death was not directly due to the product. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 108 |Viewers= 11.61 |ShortSummary= When an arson fire in Bull's hometown in New Hampshire results in a man's death, Bull ends up deciding to defend the prime suspect in the fire. The suspect, like Bull himself, comes from a family with a poor reputation in town. The TAC team arrives to help Bull and Benny demonstrate the danger of gossip and prove that family names do not dictate people. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode= 110 |Viewers= 11.30 |ShortSummary= Bull defends Ginny Bretton (Justine Lupe), the young CEO of a company that was testing software for driverless cars when an employee was killed by the prototype. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 111 |Viewers= 11.11 |ShortSummary= Bull and his team deal with an underage student who is in a romantic relationship with his now-pregnant teacher, and soon learn that the woman's estranged husband – not the student – is the father of her unborn child. But will that split the duo up? |LineColor= FF6229 }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode= 112 |Viewers= 11.17 |ShortSummary= Following an explosion at TAC headquarters, Bull, the team, and the mirror jurors find themselves being held hostage by a woman who wants TAC's help in freeing her husband from prison. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 113 |Viewers= 10.78 |ShortSummary= Bull helps disgraced Titanfall multiplayer video-game champion Jace (Omar Maskati) file a suit against his former employer, after the employer publicly accuses Jace of intentionally losing a championship match and fires him. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode= 114 |Viewers= 10.64 |ShortSummary= Bull comes to the defense of a military intelligence officer who leaked documents, leaving TAC offline and Benny in hot water. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 115 |Viewers= 10.66 |ShortSummary= After a skybridge collapse kills fifteen people, Bull helps prosecute a New York real estate tycoon (and TAC's landlord), only to discover he's a sociopath who will do anything to win, whether it be hiring one of Bull's toughest opponents as his attorney, bribing the mirror jurors, or shutting down the power in TAC. Meanwhile, Benny learns that he is being investigated by the DA's office. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 116 |Viewers= 10.39 |ShortSummary= The Governor of Connecticut takes his senior office staff skydiving and dies when his parachute fails to deploy; the owner of the skydiving company is also killed attempting to save the Governor. Bull offers his services to the skydiving company, now run by the owner's daughter, after they are sued by the Governor's widow. Meanwhile, Bull is challenged by the widow's counsel, occasional trial partner Liberty Davis, while Danny investigates possible sabotage. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 117 |Viewers= 10.90 |ShortSummary= Bull funds a class-action lawsuit pitting thousands of victims against a bank that ran a corrupt pump-and-dump investment division, which puts his business at risk. Unbeknownst to Bull, Benny is being haunted by a trial from his past, which throws him off his game and threatens the success of the suit. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 119 |Viewers= 11.13 |ShortSummary= The bond between Chunk and Bull is tested when TAC takes on as a client the prime suspect in the death of Chunk's fashion mentor killed during her own show. Meanwhile, Bull rekindles a romance with one of his toughest opponents. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 120 |Viewers= 10.32 |ShortSummary= When the captain of a pro basketball cheerleading squad is killed, popular defense attorney and fiancée of the deceased Jules Caffrey (Isaiah Washington) is charged with her death. Bull's team is brought onto the case and Bull suggests that Caffrey be his own defense attorney, but Caffrey's penchant for courtroom theatrics soon finds him at odds with Bull. Meanwhile, Cable gets suspicious of her new boyfriend. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 118 |Viewers= 10.83 |ShortSummary= Bull takes the case of a college student who killed his father but cannot remember it. Bull intends to prove temporary insanity due to hypnosis, while Chunk finds himself undercover in the cult the student had joined. Further investigation reveals the student's father was likely not the intended target. Meanwhile, Benny's relationship with Bull turns icy as Benny continues to be haunted by the false imprisonment case from his past. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 121 |Viewers= 11.03 |ShortSummary= Benny Colón is arrested for violating the Brady Act and failing to report a phone call that he received during his investigation and prosecution of the Hayden Watkins case. When the District Attorney's office blindsides him with an additional charge of planting evidence at the Watkins apartment, Benny enters a not guilty plea. Bull enlists the help of a local attorney, J.P. Nunnelly (Eliza Dushku), who is first able to get him a plea deal. When Benny turns the deal down, Bull and Nunnelly team up to secure Benny's freedom. In exchange for her help, Bull agrees to help Nunnelly on three future cases of her choosing. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 122 |Viewers= 10.97 |ShortSummary= After a building explosion is suspected to be a terrorist attack, a massive server company is ordered by the FBI to hand over files that may provide a lead on the attackers. In a case of "privacy versus security", J.P. Nunnelly has Bull consult on the case to help the company fight off the warrant (in a jury trial, no less, even though judges alone pass on the validity of search warrants), though the TAC employees are not entirely on the company's side. Meanwhile, Danny is able to discover a major lead in the case the old fashioned way, without using the server data. |LineColor= FF6229 }} |ProdCode= 123 |Viewers= 8.54 |ShortSummary= Bull is summoned to Miami to consult on another case of J.P. Nunnelly's in which six kilos of heroin are found under the deck of single mother Cecilia Novak's home. Bull has a moral dilemma, suspecting that the woman's brother Leo, who is involved in the drug trade, planted the drugs under her home. Leo, a client of Nunnelly's firm who is paying his sister's legal expenses, adamantly denies involvement and asserts that the drugs belong to a warring cartel. Nunnelly reveals that if she wins this case, she can leave her firm and start her own, and also offers to make this the last case Bull is obligated to consult with her on. Shortly before voir dire begins, cartel violence sweeps the streets, forcing the judge to order an anonymous jury and rendering Bull's team virtually unable to accurately analyze the jurors. When the US government offers to drop charges against Cecilia in exchange for her turning information about her brother over to the DEA, she refuses until Bull's team discovers that the 911 call that tipped off the DEA was placed by Cecilia's 10-year-old son Peter. Bull enlists the help of the US government and the presiding judge to pull a bit of showmanship to ensure that Cecilia's life is protected for cooperating with the DEA and that Nunnelly can leave the firm without reprimand for having a client jailed. |LineColor= FF6229 }} }} Broadcast Internationally, the series premiered in the UK on FOX UK on January 13, 2017. The series premiered in Australia on Network Ten on March 5, 2017. It debuted in New Zealand on Prime Television New Zealand on January 19, 2017.https://www.primetv.co.nz/-/mk_prime_bull Reception The pilot for Bull has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first episode received a score of 24% with an average rating of 4 out of 10, based on 21 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Michael Weatherly's performance is top-notch, but not enough to save a show that relies too heavily on a well-worn series of legal show tropes and an off-putting premise." On Metacritic, the series holds a 40 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Ratings Season 1 (2016–17) | title2 = The Woman in 8D | date2 = September 27, 2016 | rs2 = 1.9/7 | viewers2 = 13.62 | dvr2 = 1.0 | dvrv2 = 4.86 | total2 = 2.9 | totalv2 = 18.48 | title3 = Unambiguous | date3 = October 11, 2016 | rs3 = 1.7/6 | viewers3 = 13.00 | dvr3 = 0.8 | dvrv3 = 4.41 | total3 = 2.5 | totalv3 = 17.41 | title4 = Callisto | date4 = October 18, 2016 | rs4 = 1.6/6 | viewers4 = 12.29 | dvr4 = 0.8 | dvrv4 = 4.17 | total4 = 2.4 | totalv4 = 16.46 | title5 = Just Tell the Truth | date5 = October 25, 2016 | rs5 = 1.5/5 | viewers5 = 11.61 | dvr5 = 0.7 | dvrv5 = 3.77 | total5 = 2.2 | totalv5 = 15.38 | title6 = Bedside Manner | date6 = November 15, 2016 | rs6 = 1.5/5 | viewers6 = 11.87 | dvr6 = 0.8 | dvrv6 = 3.83 | total6 = 2.3 | totalv6 = 15.70 | title7 = Never Saw the Sign | date7 = November 22, 2016 | rs7 = 1.5/5 | viewers7 = 10.89 | dvr7 = 0.8 | dvrv7 = 4.26 | total7 = 2.3 | totalv7 = 15.15 | title8 = Too Perfect | date8 = December 6, 2016 | rs8 = 1.5/5 | viewers8 = 11.68 | dvr8 = 0.8 | dvrv8 = 4.06 | total8 = 2.3 | totalv8 = 15.74 | title9 = Light My Fire | date9 = December 13, 2016 | rs9 = 1.4/5 | viewers9 = 11.61 | dvr9 = 0.8 | dvrv9 = 3.76 | total9 = 2.2 | totalv9 = 15.38 | title10 = E.J. | date10 = January 3, 2017 | rs10 = 1.5/5 | viewers10 = 11.30 | dvr10 = 0.9 | dvrv10 = 4.26 | total10 = 2.4 | totalv10 = 15.56 | title11 = Teacher's Pet | date11 = January 17, 2017 | rs11 = 1.5/5 | viewers11 = 11.11 | dvr11 = 0.7 | dvrv11 = 3.88 | total11 = 2.2 | totalv11 = 14.99 | title12 = Stockholm Syndrome | date12 = January 24, 2017 | rs12 = 1.3/5 | viewers12 = 11.17 | dvr12 = 0.8 | dvrv12 = 3.74 | total12 = 2.1 | totalv12 = 14.92 | title13 = The Fall | date13 = February 7, 2017 | rs13 = 1.3/4 | viewers13 = 10.78 | dvr13 = 0.8 | dvrv13 = 3.82 | total13 = 2.1 | totalv13 = 14.60 | title14 = It's Classified | date14 = February 14, 2017 | rs14 = 1.3/5 | viewers14 = 10.64 | dvr14 = 0.8 | dvrv14 = 3.87 | total14 = 2.1 | totalv14 = 14.51 | title15 = What's Your Number? | date15 = February 21, 2017 | rs15 = 1.3/5 | viewers15 = 10.66 | dvr15 = 0.7 | dvrv15 = 3.63 | total15 = 2.0 | totalv15 = 14.29 | title16 = Free Fall | date16 = March 7, 2017 | rs16 = 1.3/5 | viewers16 = 10.39 | dvr16 = 0.8 | dvrv16 = n/a | total16 = 2.1 | totalv16 = n/a | title17 = Name Game | date17 = March 28, 2017 | rs17 = 1.3/5 | viewers17 = 10.90 | dvr17 = 0.7 | dvrv17 = 3.57 | total17 = 2.0 | totalv17 = 14.47 | title18 = Dressed to Kill | date18 = April 4, 2017 | rs18 = 1.3/5 | viewers18 = 11.13 | dvr18 = 0.6 | dvrv18 = 3.22 | total18 = 1.9 | totalv18 = 14.32 | title19 = Bring it On | date19 = April 18, 2017 | rs19 = 1.1/4 | viewers19 = 10.32 | dvr19 = 0.8 | dvrv19 = 3.86 | total19 = 1.9 | totalv19 = 14.18 | title20 = Make Me | date20 = May 2, 2017 | rs20 = 1.2/5 | viewers20 = 10.83 | dvr20 = 0.8 | dvrv20 = 3.67 | total20 = 2.0 | totalv20 = 14.50 | title21 = How to Dodge a Bullet | date21 = May 9, 2017 | rs21 = 1.2/5 | viewers21 = 11.03 | dvr21 = 0.7 | dvrv21 = 3.69 | total21 = 1.9 | totalv21 = 14.72 | title22 = Dirty Little Secrets | date22 = May 16, 2017 | rs22 = 1.3/5 | viewers22 = 10.97 | dvr22 = 0.7 | dvrv22 = 3.81 | total22 = 2.0 | totalv22 = 14.66 | title23 = Benevolent Deception | date23 = May 23, 2017 | rs23 = 1.1/4 | viewers23 = 8.54 | dvr23 = 0.8 | dvrv23 = 4.15 | total23 = 1.9 | totalv23 = 12.70 }} References External links * * * * Category:2016 American television series debuts Category:2010s American comedy television series Category:2010s American drama television series Category:American comedy-drama television series Category:American legal television series Category:CBS network shows Category:English-language television programming Category:Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Category:New York Supreme Court Category:Television series by Amblin Entertainment Category:Television series by CBS Television Studios Category:Television shows set in New York City Category:2016 television series debuts